According to Marriyum Aurangzeb, “The news that was making rounds on Thursday regarding Jindal's visit was discussed between the COAS and PM earlier is false. PM met Jindal in his personal capacity as he is a friend of his.”

A day earlier there were news reports that quoted official sources saying that during a meeting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had told Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Bajwa about Jindal's visit to Pakistan. According to the report, Pakistan's civil leadership had informed high-level officials of the army that the meeting was a part of back-channel diplomacy.

It further stated that the chief of army staff also informed his officials about the matter.